Big Coal in big trouble as coal production costs rise
"What is driving the decline of the U.S. coal industry? Most of the blame has gone either to Obama's 'war on coal' (EPA regulations) or to cheap natural gas. But there's a third factor at work, which has gotten much less press: Coal is getting more expensive to produce."

"What we are witnessing are the immediate after-effects of what is referred to as a grid-down scenario, where utility infrastructure like water and electricity, transportation infrastructure like food and gas delivery, and commerce infrastructure like electronic banking and brick & mortar trade are no longer functioning."

And more of this will happen around the world because it is too expensive to build facilities that could store deadly nuclear wastes in a manner that is even half safe. Nuclear power: Too cheap to meter! -- RF